Esther Marie and Ebie Hepworth: Fearless Girls

One of the most encouraging things is seeing other ladies encouraging each other and doing life together. Life is full of wonderful joys but also raw moments and real struggles, and we're not alone in it. Esther and Ebie are two women who have come together to make Fearless Girl Co. what it is today, a community for girls to overcome their fears and live the life that God has given us to live. They are in the midst of some exciting new things, and have so graciously agreed to share a bit of who they are and what they're about.

Will you tell us a bit about yourselves?

Ebie and Esther both have an extensive background in community outreaches teaching girls their value and are involved on multiple levels working to end slavery. The two girls met through a mutual friend on Instagram three years ago and knew immediately they were destined to be soul sisters. Amongst a million things they have in common their favorite things to do together are drink coffee, brag on how good God is and laugh at each other’s weird accents

How did Fearless Girl come to be?

Esther founded Fearless Girl Co., which began in 2013 as a blog that taught girls how to face their fears and achieve their dreams. A few months later, Esther re-established it as an outreach to connect with girls and raise awareness about human trafficking within the surf community. Since then, we have expanded to reach all girls and are incorporated as a business to further advance our message.

It’s wonderful to see people reaching out and building community. What is this movement all about?

Fearless Girl has a really simple message. We exist to equip girls to face their fears and achieve their dreams. That might look like applying for a school you’re afraid is too far from home, saying yes to a serious relationship or learning a new sport.

What does “fearless” mean to you?

Being fearless isn’t about surfing big waves or jumping off the highest cliff. It’s about learning how to overcome fear so that it doesn’t control your life and having the courage to take a step forward into achieving your dreams. True fearlessness is total abandonment to yourself and total surrender to God.

You’re up to something big. Can you fill us in on your latest project?

We have written a book and developed an online course that guides girls to face their fears and achieve their dreams. The book unpacks 30 different fears, and the online course breaks down our six-step formula on how to be fearless. We just got back from filming the course along a six-day road trip through Yosemite, Big Sur and Pismo Beach. It was INCREDIBLE, and we believe it will inspire so many girls to become fearless in their own lives.

If you could send a one-sentence message to everyone in the world, what would it be?

Your dreams can change the world.

What is the biggest challenge and biggest reward that comes from doing what you do?

The biggest challenge in pursuing any dream is the time it takes behind the scenes. There are a lot of pieces you have to put together to make it work. Within all of that hard work you are putting into your dream, you face a lot of discouragement when people don’t understand what you’re doing. You feel overlooked and misunderstood and wonder if what you’re doing is actually worth it. But then this amazing thing happens and you get a letter from a girl who has been struggling with fear and she tells you how your message has helped her find freedom. In that moment it’s all worth it and you know without a doubt you’re doing exactly what you were made to do.

When life gives you lemons, how do you make lemonade?

We don’t make lemonade. Fearless Girl is different. We’re not the norm. We’re still figuring things out. We fail, a lot. But one thing is for sure, we don’t sugar coat anything. We want to be raw and real with every girl and unveil the struggle. If given a lemon, we squirt that sour juiciness all over our tacos. We embrace the challenges, the curve balls and the wrenches. (How many metaphors can I fit into a sentence, haha) Every failure and every "no" is an opportunity for growth. We use it all and we don’t pretend to be perfect. Most importantly we stay humble and learn a lot from others.

How can other girls become a part of the Fearless Girl community?

The Fearless Girl Community is not a physical gathering, apart from occasional events. It’s an online landing pad for you to get filled up with inspiration to apply to your daily life. Being a fearless girl takes the right attitude, which is why we’ve created the book and online course to help set you on track. If you want to be a part of our community and learn how to be fearless, follow us on Instagram or Facebook and get a hold of our resources. We’d love to hear about your dreams and get to know you.

Your Kickstarter has a few more precious days. What can people do if they want to get on board with it?

We are fundraising to pay for the final production costs of our book and online course. There are four days left on our Kickstarter, and we are just shy of $1,300 left to raise! If you visit our Kickstarter page, you can pre-order the book and course as well as choose from a few other rewards, including surf lessons! If all the Ocean Girl readers could share it with their friends as well that would help us out so much!!

Maddie Buresh

Maddie Buresh is a writer and photographer with an unquenchable desire to explore the great outdoors, from the ocean to the mountains. She finds joy in trying new things, living in community, and crafting stories that encourage people to go outside, have adventures, and enjoy this big, beautiful world.